Isla Vista’s Deltopia 2024 is a “success” because nobody died this year. Two sexual assault investigations go along with 256 citations and 32 arrests, but, no worries, it’s a “success” because County Supervisor Laura Capps handed out free Narcan. I doubt there was a single residential neighborhood in the entire country with that many weekend infractions.
The Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) spent $80,000 from Isla Vistans’ utility bills to throw a sanctioned party during the unsanctioned Deltopia party and calls it a “success” because it drew crowds away from Del Playa. The ocean-side street, where the real party happened, was packed with tens of thousands of people — so many you could not walk down the street. The ever-increasing numbers are dangerous and can be attributed to lack of competent governance by Laura Capps and the IVCSD.
Saturday afternoon my daughter and two friends walked the beach from Devereux to Campus Point and then back north on Del Playa. Within a two-hour window they witnessed partiers climbing over chain-link fences on the cliff side and countless disabled drunk and drugged people transported by emergency personnel on Del Playa. There were numerous police and a helicopter flying over the “party” — all at taxpayers’ expense.
Many inebriated partiers looked like high school kids. One woman fell to the ground and ended up passed out face up on the sidewalk. My daughter thought, “What would this girl’s dad say if he could see his daughter on the ground like that?” EMTs used wheeled stretchers to cart the bodies away. What they saw conforms with Lieutenant TeSlaa’s description in the Independent.
An unsanctioned gathering of this size in a residential neighborhood is a public safety hazard that must be stopped before larger numbers of people are injured. What if a balcony collapses? What if the unsanctioned party turns into a riot? What if a lunatic decides to drive down Sabado Tarde at 55 mph? What if a crazed misogynist with a gun gets loose on Deltopia weekend?
Safety personnel and law enforcement could not possibly respond to these “hypothetical” emergencies because the residential streets are jam packed. Crowd control measures are something one expects local government to implement, and yet after two decades they do not. Why must taxpayers foot the bill for this stupid party attended by thousands of people who do not live here? With government handing out free food, even restaurants aren’t seeing a benefit.
Laura Capps is particularly disappointing. Her eight-point bass-ackwards bluff safety plan completely failed to eliminate the elephant in the room — Deltopia. She’s turned our public parks into Fence Factory cages, cutting off ocean views, because out-of-town parents are unhappy their kids got drunk, ostensibly climbed over balconies, and fell off. Two sued our local park district. The latest tragedy occurred on private property, and Capps punished taxpayers with the loss of sunset and island views. We also pay for a line of stinking porta potties that get tipped over weekly. Meanwhile Deltopia grinds on while Capps diddles around building safety nets at the edge of the problem.
Shutting down the Deltopia party is not rocket science. Block off UCSB and there are only two roads leading to IV — Storke and Los Carneros. Channel two lanes of cars to enter I.V. from Storke and two for nonresidents to exit on Los Carneros. Divert any vehicle and/or person who cannot prove they live here. Do the same for pedestrian traffic on streets entering I.V. from El Colegio. Broadcast the measures on social media and send visitors back to the freeway. Call it what it is: a public health emergency.
Capps and UCSB need to appoint adults to the Isla Vista Community Services District who stop sanctioning parties on Deltopia weekend and start focusing on ending this annual invasion. The remedy is crowd control and law enforcement backed by competent governance. No sane person can look at what happened over the weekend and call it a success.
Peter Neushul has lived in Isla Vista for nearly 40 years.